Customer Reviews

The Master Of Ragtime Guitar : The Essential Recordings Of Blind Blake

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If you're reading this, then you must already be interested. This is worth that interest. While a few tracks have poor sonics, most are very good and the ebullience and joy of simple music-making is obvious. A wonderful collection that covers the spectrum of his work. Funny, sad, and a bit weird, you can really get to know this exquisite guitarist and vocalist.

This compilation of Blake tunes stands up pretty well against the other ones available. Since Yazoo has deleted _Ragtime Guitar's Foremost Fingerpicker_ and because its new _The Best of Blind Blake_ does not include "Police Dog Blues", "Sweet Jivin' Mama" or the original "Diddie Wa Diddie" (though it does have the sequel "Diddie Wa Diddie #2") this Indigo compilation looks even more attractive than it once did. This recording removes a little bit more high end than Yazoo typically removes, which puts the scratches a little more in the background, but they haven't overdone this and much of the presence of the 78's is thus maintained. I have fortunately just located a copy of the recently deleted _Ragtime Guitar's Foremost Fingerpicker_ (a gap in my collection) which is in my opinion the best compilation but if you can't find a copy of that disc, this one is a good bet. However, if you're a Blake maniac, you'll also need the four volume complete works from Document. I'm a maniac.